Jeff Sessions Is Upholding Legal Immigration

Jeff Sessions is upholding legal immigration as the new attorney general. His first step was the March 29, 2017 statement that federal funds could be withdrawn from so-called sanctuary cities; those that refuse to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests that an illegal alien, who has committed a serious crime be held for deportation. He is upholding legal immigration by first cracking down on criminal illegal aliens.

Of course, Sessions is not without critics of this new statement of policy. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, claims that it is beyond the attorney general’s legal jurisdiction. “DOJ can give some opinions, but it’s not primarily in their jurisdiction,” Garcetti told The Washington Post.

Sessions also announced on March 30:

that the federal government will speed up deportations of undocumented immigrants housed in federal correctional facilities. The Justice Department said the new process “saves time and resources and speeds hearings.

The DOJ announced it would expand the number of prisons in the “Institutional Hearing Program.” This is a program for the deportation of criminal illegal aliens after their prison terms are over. Then, an immigration judge conducts the immigration deportation hearings via video with the inmate. This method of adjudication speeds up the process, by months, for faster, more cost effective deportation.

Sessions recently defended the practice of ICE arresting criminal illegal aliens after they were released from jail. It was necessary because sanctuary cities would not hold the criminals in jail long enough for ICE to retrieve them, despite ICE requests for detainment. The DOJ believes they have no choice but to make sure:

illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes and are serving time in our federal prisons are expeditiously removed from our country as the law requires…

Therefore, ICE must make public arrests to enforce immigration law and deport criminal illegal aliens.

Some critics of these policies believe they are counter-productive, because these methods may discourage the reporting of serious crimes committed by illegal aliens for fear of deportation. It seems strange that the fear of deportation would outweigh that of going to federal prison. Reporting a crime can be anonymous. ICE is not asking witnesses and victims of a serious crime be turned over, only those convicted of serious federal crimes, who have finished their sentences and are being released.

The job of the attorney general is to enforce the law as it stands and prosecute those who do not comply. Sessions is the chief prosecutor of the nation. His jurisdiction is the entire country, where violations of federal law are concerned, despite objections from a city mayor. Legally, Sessions is on solid ground with this policy.

How Does Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration Uphold Legal Emigration?

By engendering and rewarding respect for the laws of the United States. What often goes unnoticed in the immigration debate is the amount of effort and cost the legal immigrant pays, especially if he wishes to become an American citizen.

One of the requirements to become a citizen is, of course, to first be a legal resident in the country. Yet, the fact one is a legal resident is not a guarantee of citizenship. In order to apply for citizenship, five years as s legal resident is necessary. Thus, one factor of the efforts for legal citizenship is the burden of time.

Becoming a legal immigrant requires time and large quantities of money before arriving in the U.S. Documents must be obtained, such as passports, visas, and green cards, before permission to travel and stay is granted. Those documents cost both time and money.

The people who make legality a priority when they decide to visit the U.S. are honoring the laws of the country. When they do so, they demonstrate more than simply a sincere desire or even need to be in the U.S. They demonstrate a fidelity and nascent loyalty to the nation. They believe the nation should demonstrate commensurate loyalty to them.

When criminal illegal aliens are allowed to run rampant, and when those who do so are favored over legal immigrants in America, the country is showing disloyalty to the legal immigrant. It is, in effect, telling the legal immigrants that they are behind criminal illegal aliens in stature and recognition!

Sessions is upholding legal immigration by putting teeth to the laws concerning criminal illegal aliens. He is, by these steps, beginning to speak value back into the emigration law. He is also beginning to speak value back into the legal immigrant’s standing in the U.S. That is a laudable and long overdue act.